WOBURN - The bullet that killed Joseph McDaniel hit him in the chest and traveled through several organs before lodging in his aorta, a medical examiner said on Monday during the trial of McDaniel's killer in Middlesex Superior Court.

McDaniel, 19, was shot two other times, but Dr. Richard Evans said during Eric Murray's murder trial the chest wound was the one that killed him.

"The projectile penetrated the right portion of the chest, penetrated the right ventricle of the heart, the diaphragm, the liver and then became lodged in the largest artery in the body on the top of the spine, the aorta," said Evans. "It would be painful as long as the person was conscious."

Evans did not perform the autopsy on McDaniel, whom authorities say was slain by Murray on Oct. 7, 2003, on Kendall Street in Framingham. Evans based his testimony on reports and photos taken during the autopsy. Evans was the chief medical examiner at the time.

McDaniel also suffered two other gunshot wounds. A second bullet entered his right side of his back above his right buttocks.

"The wound entered the abdominal cavity and traveled through loops in the bowels," said Evans. "It would have been a fatal wound if it was left untreated."

The third wound was a shot to the the right forearm above the wrist that traveled through the fatty part of his arm and came out the other side, Evans said.

Evans said it was impossible to determine where McDaniel and Murray were standing at the time of the shooting, or which shot hit McDaniel first.

Also on Monday, prosecutor Nicole Allain and Murray's lawyer, Timothy Bradl, argued about what portions of Murray's statement to police the jury of eight women and six men should hear.

Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Richard Mahoney began testifying on Monday and is scheduled to continue today. Mahoney, who interrogated Murray on Oct. 8, 2003, is expected to read the statement's Murray made to police.

Bradl wanted portions of the statement redacted so the jury would not hear them.

In the statement, Murray said he met with McDaniel and another man on Beaver Street on Oct. 7, 2003, to buy marijuana, and then went to his sister's apartment to smoke it. He also told police he went to Kendall Street that night to buy more marijuana, and that the last time he had smoked marijuana prior to being questioned by police was 10 p.m. the night of the shooting.

Bradl also wanted to keep from the jury Murray's statement that the week before the slaying he bought the gun that killed McDaniel in Mattapan.

"They just show bad character," said Bradl. "It does not shine a light on what the commonwealth is trying to prove or disprove here today."

Page 2 of 2 - Allain argued the statements are relevant and should be included.

"The defendant is giving a different version of what Randy Lopez and other witnesses who still may testify in this trial say happened there that day," she said.

Bradl also asked Judge Sandra Hamlin to block a portion of the statement where Murray said he was in "big trouble" and asked which jail he was going to. Murray also smoked a cigarette and told police it would be his "last cigarette."

Allain argued that the statements showed Murray had a "consciousness of guilt" and should be heard by the jury, but Bradl said the statement was about being in trouble and jail and had nothing to do with the shooting.

"It's a reference to KST members being in jail and he was worried about getting beat up or worse," said Bradl. "I'm worried this would be misleading the jury."

Hamlin said the jury could hear about Murray discussing marijuana and buying the gun, as well as being in trouble. She said the jury could not hear any reference of Murray talking about going to court for another reason other than the shooting and him talking about his last cigarette.

Murray is charged with first-degree murder and the illegal possession of a firearm without a permit. He is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Murray was initially convicted of first-degree murder in 2005, but Hamlin overturned the verdict after evidence of McDaniel's connection to the KST, known as the Kendall Street Team and the Kendall Street Thugs, came to light in a federal indictment.

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For trial updates, follow Norman Miller on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW, #murraytrial.